Nokia Drive missing

[jverge]

My wife received her black HTC 8X yesterday and I am still waiting for my blue one.  One thing I noticed right away is that Nokia Drive is missing from the phone.  Was this on purpose?  I was under the impression this was bundled with Windows 8 phones free.  I really hope this wasn't Verizon's idea so they can charge for VZ navigation.

[Ann154]

You purchased a phone manufactured by HTC expecting to find a proprietary program written by Nokia?  I don't see a problem here.  Maybe you should have picked a Nokia phone.

[jverge]

Microsoft had a ~18min video showing the features of the Windows8 phone.  One of the points they made in that video was Nokia maps and Nokia Drive are included on all Win8 phones (microsoft actually abandoned Bing maps for Nokia maps).  If you wanted the full version of Nokia Drive (called Drive+) which gives extra features like mass transit navigation then you needed a Nokia phone.  So yes, I expect that Nokia Drive should be on EVERY Win8 phone since the company that wrote the operating system promised it.

[jverge]

Below is the response I received from HTC.  I'm thinking its either back to Android or get the Nokia 822 (which is not my first choice).

Thanks for contacting HTC!

Nokia said that Nokia Drive will be available for all Windows 8 phones, this however is up to the manufacturer, we are currently reviewing the possibility of bringing Nokia Drive in our future releases and as an update. Meanwhile, you may try some applications on the Windows marketplace that have voice GPS navigation such as Garmin Streetpilot.

Should you require further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us through http://www.htc.com/us/support/email-support or call us at +1-866-449-8358 from 6AM to 1AM EST, 7 days a week.

[drichter]

AND TADA! FINALLY!!! It has been released. http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/nokia-drive-beta/9a0f7585-9f16-47d5-8041-28018fcea606

[vzw_customer_support]

Drichter, I am so relieved to see that the "Nokia Drive Beta" application is now available on your Windows 8 device. Only applications that are compatible with the software on your device will be available to download from the Windows App Store. Some applications require certain features in order for them to work. As a result, initially all applications may not be available on a newly launched device.

On behalf of Verizon Wireless, I apologize for this delay and we're pleased to hear that you have access to your favorite application now. ^LH

[blayer]

BUT...  Google Maps is now available and you won't let it work correctly on my HTC.  Why is that??

[SydneyK]

This isn't a Verizon problem; this is an ongoing battle between Google and Microsoft.